Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 175 - 170

Chapter 175: 170

(On the last day of September, tycoons, let’s be friends, voting for monthly tickets~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

In the valley, there were experts of the Heaven-Opening Realm from all four major nations, and extraordinary experts like Uncle Fu, each with keen divine intent, immediately responded and appeared at the entrance of the valley.

"Brother Li, who ambushed you? What on earth happened here?" everyone asked in succession.

Li Aobo staggered, and at this time everyone could see a huge blood hole in his waist from which blood was gushing incessantly. It was well-known that Heaven-Opening Realm experts could control every part of their bodies and heal even the largest wounds instantaneously.

There were only two possibilities: either Li Aobo had been pushed too hard he had no time even to manage the wound, let alone heal it with spiritual power, or the person who injured him had left terrible exotic spiritual power inside the wound, which Li Aobo needed to expel first.

Similarly, he still had no time.

To press such an expert to this extent, who exactly was behind it, or what power could achieve this?

"After leaving, I first recovered some spiritual power and then departed. But not far out, I fell into a formation, then encountered a powerful enemy, no match for me!" Li Aobo tapped a few fingers on the wound, controlling the injury with spiritual power, but the healing speed of the wound was extraordinarily slow.

This confirmed that the wound indeed contained exotic spiritual power from other experts, which had to be removed first to control the injury.

"Who is the other party?" Nangong Changkong and others asked in surprise.

"A masked man, at the Third Layer Heaven of the Heaven-Opening Realm!" Li Aobo said gravely, with sweat dripping from his forehead, indicating that removing the exotic spiritual power was no simple task.

"The enemy intended to capture me alive, which allowed me to seize an opportunity to break out; otherwise, I would have already been a corpse on the spot!" he continued.

"Heaven-Opening Third Layer Heaven!"

"From where does this power hail, to dare such a treacherous attack!"

Everyone was furious, clearly, it was not simply Li Aobo intruding on someone else’s territory, but the other party had set up a grand formation targeting all of them! It was just that Li Aobo had left in frustration, which led to him being the first to fall into the trap.

That is to say, a power intended to catch them all in one net!

It was an outrage! Which sect dared to target all Heaven-Opening Realm experts from the four major nations at once? Were they not afraid of biting off more than they could chew, possibly choking on their own ambition?

However, the Third Layer Heaven of the Heaven-Opening Realm!

Normally, it took five people to counter one of a slightly higher minor realm, so a singular expert of the Third Layer Heaven of Heaven-Opening could roughly be considered equivalent to twenty-five experts of the First Layer Heaven. Of course, some had uniquely large Dantian Spaces, some had mastered influence, some possessed Earth Level or even Heaven Level martial arts techniques, resulting in a huge disparity in battle power.

A one-to-five ratio was according to the standard power exchange, comparison.

The Heaven-Opening Realm experts present totaled only about twenty, and one from the Third Layer Heaven of Heaven-Opening was enough to suppress them—unless among them was a heaven-defying talent like Zhou Heng, not necessarily invincible within the Great Realm, but if four or five could join hands to withstand, that would suffice.

However, while a Third Layer Heaven of Heaven-Opening expert could indeed suppress them all, actually killing them all—or even just one individual—was far from certain. After all, defeating and killing are entirely different matters.

That is why it was necessary to use a formation, trapping them to death here!

——Generally speaking, from the Land Cleaving Realm onwards, even the most perilous terrain couldn’t confine martial artists; they could easily leap over cliffs and barge through seas of fire. Thus, to trap and kill such martial artists, one must first use a formation to cut off their path.

Of course, if one possessed a movement technique like the Swift Cloud Radiant Step, there would be no need for such trouble; with a punch, a palm, an attack of the sword, killing one within ten steps, one could slay countless in just moments with overwhelming battle power.

Zhou Heng did not move closer; his standing position was sufficient to hear clearly the conversation of Li Aobo and the others.

A masked person? Intent on a live capture?

He suddenly thought about the previous killings that stirred up the four nations, although at that time the victims were all martial artists from the Spirit Gathering Realm. But now, was this power targeting the Heaven-Opening Realm?

Yet it was uncertain whether they were related or not.

"Alas, why stubbornly resist the inevitable?" At this moment, a faint voice suddenly came from outside the valley, ethereal, making it difficult to discern from which corner the sound originated.

"Who is it!"

"Don’t hide in the shadows, show yourself!"

Nangong Changkong and the others immediately shouted, they were not too worried, as Uncle Fu, at least in the Mountains and Rivers Realm, was here, for whom killing a Third Layer Heaven of Heaven-Opening was as easy as slaughtering chickens and dogs.

"Do you really long for death?" The faint voice rang out again and a masked person suddenly appeared, slender in build, likely a man, lacking the specific curves of a woman.

"State your name!" Nangong Changkong and the others demanded.

"You are not qualified yet," the masked man said indifferently, his tone remarkably calm.

"How dare you!" Everyone shouted in unison.

Zhou Heng suddenly interjected, asking, "Were you the ones who killed the Martial Artists of the Spirit Gathering Realm previously? Why did you do it?"

The masked man glanced at Zhou Heng, seeming somewhat surprised that a mere Land Cleaving Realm youngster dared to interject at this time, but he immediately looked away. Such an insignificant individual was not worthy of his attention. He said, "Dead men need not know so much!"

With a snap of his fingers, whoosh after whoosh, shadows emerged one after another, and in no time, dozens of masked individuals appeared at the entrance of the valley.

Although he did not verbally confirm it, nor did he deny it—it seemed to be taken as an admission by default. In fact, all of them had come masked, not worried about their identities being recognized. Their purpose was clear: to take down everyone in the valley and extract their pulsing hearts!

"Scram!" Just then, a voice full of authority echoed from the valley. Zhou Heng and the others did not react, but the masked individuals all felt a tremor in their hearts, their faces under the black cloth turning deathly pale.

Such a terrifying presence, merly a voice was so domineering.

"May I know how to address the senior?" The initially appearing masked individual, clearly the leader, bowed with clasped fists toward the direction of the valley, "I had not expected the presence of a Mountains and Rivers Realm senior, my apologies for the oversight!"

"Scram, do not make this old man say it a second time. You have disturbed my lady’s rest!" The voice from the valley drifted out. Although no one was seen, everyone was certain it must be Uncle Fu—it was only this inscrutable old man who possessed such power.

"We have shown disrespect. We implore the senior to forgive our intrusion!" The leader of the masked men hesitated momentarily before speaking again, though his tone did not seem overly fearful.

This mysterious force had been slaughtering Martial Artists from the Spirit Gathering Realm everywhere, and now it seemed their appetite had grown even larger, daring to even consider Heaven-Opening Realm targets. Clearly, there were ulterior motives at play; nobody would kill for mere entertainment.

——Such madmen may exist, but it was impossible for an entire force to be comprised of such lunatics.

Such evil deeds provoked universal indignation. That’s why they acted behind masks, but the power hidden behind them must be incredibly formidable, otherwise, where did this confidence stem from?

"Hmph!" Uncle Fu snorted coldly but did not speak again or show himself to take action.

"We take our leave!" The leader of the masked men gave a salute toward the valley, waved his hand, and his followers promptly sprang into action, vanishing in an instant.

These people came abruptly and left just as suddenly, as if they had never been there at all.

"Senior, why did you not stop them?" A Heaven-Opening Realm expert from Water Origin Country bravely inquired. If the masked leader could have been captured, surely they could have obtained valuable information.

After a brief silence, Uncle Fu spoke, "There is another Mountains and Rivers Realm expert lurking in the shadows!"

Having said only this, everyone fell utterly silent. If Uncle Fu had moved to detain them, that expert would have definitely intervened, making the outcome unpredictable, but the certain outcome would be far from peaceful.

Moreover, Uncle Fu’s duty was to protect Mei Yixiang; there was absolutely no reason for him to care about the lives of others, nor would he risk Mei Yixiang’s life.

While Uncle Fu had repelled the mysterious force this time, what about the next? Their strength was unfathomable!

The Heaven-Opening Third Layer Heaven would struggle to kill a First Layer Heaven, but for a Mountains and Rivers Realm expert, annihilating Heaven-Opening Realm individuals is all too easy, crushing them with a mere gesture, leaving no chance for escape!

Everyone was silent, as they could call for help from the Sect behind Bright Moon Country, but would a Mountains and Rivers Realm expert act as a bodyguard? If they knew the origins of this mysterious force, then a joint effort of major forces to dispatch Bright Moon Country’s experts could strike directly at the heart of the enemy and eliminate them once and for all.

But what now?

Even if they wanted to strike first, they could not find the enemy. They were left waiting for the enemy to attack. After all, a thief might be crafty for a thousand days, but you can’t guard against a thief for a thousand days.

A night passed quickly, and the experts from the four nations retreated to their respective countries, naturally to seek assistance from the Sect behind Bright Moon Country as soon as possible, but how much support they could provide remained to be seen.

Zhou Heng naturally did not leave; he still had to search for the Spirit Core—a treasure of incredible value.

Mei Yixiang wanted to stay as well, but Uncle Fu did not listen to her this time. The mysterious force was too terrifying. This time a Mountains and Rivers Realm expert was hidden in the shadows, but what if a Spirit Sea Realm expert came next?

Those who should leave had left, only the original guardians remained behind. They couldn’t possibly abandon the Spirit Stone Mine, could they? Workers to mine the Spirit Stones were due to arrive shortly, and these guardians would still need to oversee the operation, ensuring that no nation hoarded Spirit Stones secretly.

Zhou Heng wandered the barren hills, with the seductively charming Xiao Huoshui by his side. This temptress hooked her arms through one of Zhou Heng’s, walking shoulder to shoulder with him, her face brimming with sweetness.

The Black Sword’s response was vague, preventing Zhou Heng from accurately pinpointing the location of the treasure. As they roamed the mountains, they failed to find the exact position of the Spirit Core, but Xiao Huoshui discovered a hot spring and persistently coaxed him into taking a bath.

Zhou Heng had no choice but to agree. Thinking about it, Orchid Concubine had been in the Nine Mystic Trial Tower for long enough. Although there was clean water inside, it was barely enough to wipe down her body; a bath was but a luxury wish.

Therefore, he also let Orchid Concubine out. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)